Who is Maitre Marcel?

Maitre Marcel is a culinary weblog kept by Marcel Michelson, a corporate communication and media consultant who has a passion for France, food, health, culture, gastronomy and travel.

In his search for lighter and more healthy versions of classic French cuisine, Marcel endeavours to make new associations in a bid to create tasty meals that are also healthy, as in less salty, less fat and less copious.

He uses the products of the seasons, from nearby sources and markets. He makes dishes with left-overs and buys parsimoniously, while not avoiding the occasional expensive ingredient.

Marcel is shocked about the food waste in the world, especially in industrialised countries.

There is an enormous problem of obesity and cardiac disease that is related to our modern lifestyle of consuming too much and badly while not having sufficient exercise. At the same time, elsewhere in the world people die of undernourishment.

The recipes here are part of his modest contribution to a campaign to eradicate food waste and obesity.

Marcel followed a series of cooking lessons at the school of Alain Ducasse in Paris and also with Olivier Berthé, the Pourcel brothers and Anne-Sophie Pic. He dares to call himself “Maitre” because he masters his subject. He is not a Masterchef, and certainly not a chef in the kitchen; for that you need a lot of training and certificates, as well as professional experience.

Marcel was an international financial journalist with the Reuters news agency, now Thomson Reuters, for over 20 years and he worked and lived in several countries outside his native Netherlands. He has been writing and editing in English ever since he left university.

At work, he was a chef as chief correspondent for corporate, commodities and energy news in Paris, until the end of a five-year expatriate contract in 2011. After a brief stint back in Amsterdam, he took the plunge and gave up his well-paid job, steady but boring despite the adrenalin rushes, to seek a fresh adventure in Paris where his wife had remained working at the OECD.

Marcel and Maartje live in the beautiful village of Lagarde in the Ariège. They have a Dutch language weblog on their life in France, called Artisjok & Art de vivre (Artichoke and the art of living).

You can contact Marcel for any culinary matters or commissions, as well as for any assignments in the communication and media field, on marcel (at) m2media.fr.

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What’s cooking?

Food is more than fuel for the body. Food is a source of pleasure.

Fresh ingredients and a bit of skill is all you need to cook with the seasons and serve up friendship and love.

Food is culture, food is important. Food can cause or cure ailments. Enjoy what you eat and drink and think about it, where it came from and what it dies to you. Here you will find some ideas and tips about tasty and healthy cooking with locally sourced ingredients in south-west France.